Section 5 Lubrication
Hearing that the famous Zhang Huangyan was coming, the guards of the camp hurriedly went in to report and invited Zhang Shangshu and his entourage to the camp. After entering the camp, Zhang Huangyan soon saw a group of Ming troops practicing. After seeing the visiting, several leading Zhejiang Army officers cheered and ran towards Zhang Huangyan.
The guards who brought Zhang Huangyan into the camp were already a little wary. When they saw these Zhejiang friendly troops running over to say hello to Zhang Huangyan, the last bit of suspicion disappeared. They no longer followed closely behind these people but stood a few steps, not interfering with the happy time of the reunion of Zhejiang officers and soldiers with their leaders.
Zhang Huangyan was also very happy to see that many subordinates were safe and sound. The Zhejiang Army in front of him made him feel refreshed. Not only were everyone equipped with armor and weapons, but there were also many flags. The officers and soldiers had a sense of courage. However, the instructors sent by Li Laiheng were very dissatisfied with this situation, and felt that the Zhejiang Army was too undisciplined. They were obviously practicing, but they all ran away in an instant.
Ren Tang was also among them, with a helmet and armor, and a sword. After seeing Zhang Huangyan, Ren Tang and other officers excitedly talked about their experiences after the breakup. Zhang Huangyan was very surprised to learn that the Zhejiang Army was the main force in the battles in Nanjing. However, the facts were right in front of him. The Zhejiang Army won the first two battles alone, and the Zhejiang Army not only fought for the Kuidong Army in the third battle, but fought side by side.
"Okay, okay!" Zhang Huangyan was very happy after hearing the achievements of these subordinates, but he was also a little surprised. When the Wuhu bombed the camp, the Zhejiang army rushed to take their family members and escape from the camp with their friends. No matter how Zhang Huangyan shouted, he couldn't stop them. Why did it suddenly change?
Many officers were happy and felt a little hot, so they loosened their armor a little, and some even took off their helmets and showed a row of bald heads. These head shapes that were no different from those of the Qing army made Zhang Huangyan stunned. If the army disintegrated and everyone needed to escape, shaving the head was not an unforgivable act. At the beginning, the Ming army also killed the Han people who shaved their heads, but Emperor Longwu issued a special edict to stop this behavior, believing that the people were forced to shave their heads, and that the court did not protect the people effectively, and strictly prohibited the army from getting along with these refugees.
The soldiers of the Ming army used to do their best to protect their hair, believing that hair care symbolizing integrity and courage, and implemented this idea from ministers, officers to soldiers. However, Deng Ming had no similar belief at all. He originally thought that long hair was too hot in summer and wanted to shave a flat head. When moving in the enemy-occupied area, Deng Ming regarded safety as much as more important than hair, so he not only shaved his head, but also actively persuaded Li Laiheng and the Zhejiang Army to shave their heads.
After noticing Zhang Huangyan's gaze, Ren Tang showed a shameful expression. Like everyone else, Ren Tang also shaved his head. Everyone knows that doing so will make the Ming army successfully attacked, and his hair can be longer if it shaved, but his head will not be taken back.
When everyone followed Zhang Huangyan before, they saw that the senior officers of the Zhejiang Army insisted on keeping their hair. Of course, the soldiers were unwilling to be cowards, unwilling to be despised by their companions, and suspected by their superiors. Deng Ming was a completely opposite example, and even found reasons for everyone. In summer, he was very happy to shave his head and did not easily grow lice. Deng Ming felt it was difficult to say it directly, so he stroked his heart in front of thousands of Zhejiang soldiers: "The ambition to serve the country is not on the top of his head, but on this inch."
Zhang Huangyan nodded after hearing the Zhejiang Army's narrative, and did not say much. When he fled this time, he would rather wear makeup to become a Taoist priest in order to save his hair.
While Zhejiang Bing was talking to Zhang Huangyan, Deng Ming and Li Laiheng received the news and immediately ran out to greet him.
In the military camp, Deng Ming did not wear a hat or helmet for convenience, so he did not have time to wear it when he hurried out. Zhang Huangyan saw that Deng Ming was similar to others, with only a thin layer of hair and a long strand of dispersed hair behind his head - so that he could tie it into a braid if necessary.
After meeting Zhang Huangyan, Deng Ming invited the other party into the Central Army tent.
Zhang Huangyan felt that one of the guards around Deng Ming was very familiar, but he waited until he entered the tent and remembered that he asked Mu Tan: "Are you from Yanping's vassal?"
"Yes, Zhang Shangshu has good eyesight and memory." Mu Tan saw that the other party had recognized him, so he could not help but admit it: "The last time Zhang Shangshu went to Kinmen, he was in the guard behind the Prince of Yanping."
Zhang Huangyan nodded, looked around and asked, "Where is the Prince of Yanping?"
"The Prince of Yanping went out to sea." Deng Ming replied, and asked again: "Don't Zhang Shangshu know?"
"Oh? Haven't come back?" Zhang Huangyan of course knew that Zheng Chenggong had retreated. If it weren't for the spread of this news in the Zhejiang army, there might be no bombing of the camp.
"No." Deng Ming replied in confusion.
Zhang Huangyan glanced at Mu Tan with some strangeness. He remembered that this person was one of Zheng Chenggong's personal bodyguards, so he thought that Zheng Chenggong was back. If Zheng Chenggong had not come, how could his personal bodyguard appear here?
"How did you come?" Zhang Huangyan was puzzled and finally asked.
As soon as he saw Zhang Huangyan's eyes rolling on him, Mu Tan secretly shouted that he was not good. Zheng Chenggong repeatedly told him that Deng Ming's identity must be kept secret, especially to Zhang Huangyan. Ren Tang had also visited Kinmen with Zhang Huangyan. Mu Tan recognized him when he was in Chizhou, but fortunately the other party did not recognize him.
Today, Mu Tan was also lucky, hoping that Zhang Huangyan would not remember him. Fortunately, Zhang Huangyan did not ask immediately as soon as he met, and gave Mu Tan some time to think. When Zhang Huangyan asked, Mu Tan was confident: "After the king and Shangshu Zhang agreed to send troops, he would let Bei Zhi rush to Fengjie and report it to General Wen. General Wen sent Admiral Deng to lead Kuidong troops out of Sichuan to cooperate, so Bei Zhi stayed with Admiral Deng for this."
This answer is reasonable. Although Zhang Huangyan seemed to feel something was wrong, he didn't think much about it. Instead, he believed Mu Tan's words: "Oh, it's really hard to get from Fujian to eastern Sichuan."
"Working for the country, I dare not take it as hard to work hard." Mu Tan replied respectfully, secretly happy in his heart. This was fooled, and it did not arouse Zhang Huangyan's suspicion, nor did it reveal Zheng Chenggong's secret.
After staying in Deng Ming's army for two days, Zhang Huangyan discovered that Deng Ming actually had no direct troops, and the soldiers in the camp were either Li Laiheng's troops or Zhejiang soldiers. According to Deng Ming's request, the Zhejiang army still had to go out to practice step by step every day. However, since Zhang Huangyan arrived, all the training plans were sent to Zhang Huangyan. Deng Ming no longer accepted the reports of Zhejiang military officers, but asked them to report to Zhang Huangyan as before.
"Shangshu Zhang came here, which saved me a lot of effort." Two days later, when Deng Ming discussed the Zhejiang Army's training plan with Zhang Huangyan again, he said to the latter: "Originally, these officers and soldiers didn't want to go to Sichuan, and planned to risk their lives to return to Zhejiang to reunite with their families. After being blocked in Changzhou, they had no choice but to turn around and kill to the city of Nanjing in an unjust way."
With the great victory of the Ming army, the Qing navy was destroyed, and the desire of these Zhejiang soldiers to go home increased again. Now the Ming army has control over this section of the Yangtze River. After learning that Ma Fengzhi raised his troops in Wusong Mansion, there was no main Qing army force worth mentioning from Nanjing to the estuary of the Yangtze River, and the Zhejiang soldiers were even more eager to return home. In addition to these Zhejiang troops who did not bring their families, some Zhejiang people from Anqing also had the intention to go home. However, due to the division of men and women, they could not act on the family unit for the time being, otherwise a large number of people would turn around and go down the river.
"I originally wanted to send them a trip, but it was too far. I had to rush back to Zhoushan after I sent them back to Zhoushan. Since Shangshu Zhang has arrived, I not only saved my energy, but also did not have to take this risk." Deng Ming said to Zhang Huangyan: "As for the Zhejiang soldiers in Anqing, I plan to let them decide to stay or leave in a few days. If I am willing to go back to Zhoushan, I will not force myself. But I always feel that Zhoushan may not support so many people, right?"
Deng Ming's statement surprised Zhang Huangyan. When he first came to the camp, Zhang Huangyan saw Deng Ming providing armor and weapons for the Zhejiang army and training them strictly, so he thought Deng Ming wanted to turn this army into his personal leader. Unexpectedly, he had the idea of sending the soldiers back to Zhoushan from the beginning. Zhang Huangyan had been with these Zhejiang soldiers for many years and had a deep affection for this army. If Deng Ming took the army away, Zhang Huangyan felt a little sad, but he also felt that this was helpless - after all, Deng Ming could lead this army to win battles, and could also provide them with equipment that Zhang Huangyan could never provide.
At that time, Zhang Huangyan felt that if he forced these troops to come back, he would at least have to return the equipment provided by Deng Ming, otherwise he would be robbing other people's property. Not only would the army have complaints, but Zhang Huangyan himself would not want to see these soldiers continue to fight against the Qing Dynasty with bare hands. Anyway, the army had not fallen into the hands of the enemy, and it would be a good thing if he could play a greater role under the leadership of a Ming general. Zhang Huangyan no longer wanted to mention the issue of command of the army. He did not expect Deng Ming to return it with both hands, and also expressed his attitude of not seizing Zhang Huangyan's military power.
However, as Deng Ming said, Zhoushan is now overcrowded, and the Zhejiang army lacking territory cannot guarantee the survival of so many troops and their families. Zhang Huangyan wanted to disband some troops several times and let some Zhoushan soldiers and civilians sneak back to the Qing territories to be obedient people - at least they can survive, rather than starve to death overseas.
Zhang Huangyan used all his strength to maintain the survival of the military and civilians, which is one of the reasons why the Zhejiang military is so simple. After hearing Deng Ming's suggestion, Zhang Huangyan said that he should not let Anqing's men return to Zhejiang: "It's a pity that the journey from Fengjie to Zhoushan is long, otherwise I really hope to send all the people to western Sichuan, where there is enough land to support the military and civilians, but Zhoushan does not. If the energy source continues to send people to western Sichuan, I can also receive more refugees in Zhoushan. The righteous soldiers resisting the Tartars in coastal provinces are one after another, but I am suffering from limited output and cannot bring all these righteous men to Zhoushan, so I can only let them die."
Zhang Huangyan felt that those Zhejiang soldiers who were taking their families would be better off going to Huguang, so he volunteered to go to Anqing in two days to help convince some people to immigrate to Sichuan.
"The journey to Sichuan is long, and life and death are uncertain. If they are reluctant to go, it's fine." Deng Ming did not expect that Zhang Huangyan would agree with his immigration plan so much.
"Chengdu is the country of Tianfu, but it is too much killed by Western thieves. It is of course best if we can occupy the southeast, but Sichuan cannot give up."
Zhang Huangyan thought Deng Ming and Wen Anzhi ignored Sichuan, but instead persuaded Deng Ming: "Since ancient times, whether it is for the great cause of revitalization or to achieve great goals, they need to consolidate their roots. If production can be resumed, Sichuan alone can supply hundreds of thousands of troops of food. Supervisor Wen and the Admiral must not be taken lightly."
Deng Ming nodded. He and Zhang Huangyan had the same view on this issue. Only when the land was controlled in the hands of the Ming army for a long time and defended it for several years or even more than ten years without being ravaged by the enemy will the residents on the land develop stronger cohesion. It was precisely because Li Zicheng lacked a solid foundation that he could not withstand too much failure and lacked the ability to tug-of-war with the Qing court. Many prefectures and counties in the southeast surrendered when they saw Zheng Chenggong's momentum. After the Qing army counterattacked, they rushed to rebel. Their performance made Deng Ming very worried.
"Chendu Prefecture is still under the control of the Sichuan Army?" Today was discussing matters in Zhang Huangyan's military camp. Li Laiheng did not come with Deng Ming, so Zhang Huangyan did not have much concern when he spoke.
"Yes, now Chengdu General Liu Yao and Deputy General Yang Youcai have all had military positions for many generations." Deng Ming was stunned at first, but he still answered honestly. Zhang Huangyan's evaluation of the Western thief had already shown his tendency.
"It's still reliable for the Sichuan Army. Herald military officers who can persist until now are loyal to the court. Admiral Deng and General Wen should try their best to support Liu, and the two generals Yang are." Seeing that Deng Ming had no intention of refuting, Zhang Huangyan continued: "The Li thief initiated a rebellion back then, which led to today's disaster. Li Laiheng, Xingshan, was the son of a tiger (Li Guo), and a tiger was Li Chuang's nephew, and the ferocious and stubborn were almost the same as his uncle..."
All dynasties in the Southern Ming Dynasty were very careful about the camp. Not only did they give as little food and salary as possible, they tried their best to limit the territory of the remaining camps, and did not give them the opportunity to make meritorious service and expand, but they also tried their best to differentiate and disintegrate, hoping to turn the camps into a pile of loose sand without combat effectiveness. Although this plan did not achieve full success, it still had great results, but the beneficiaries were the Qing Dynasty rather than the Southern Ming Dynasty.
Now Zhang Huangyan also expressed deep concerns about entering the camp to Deng Ming. Although Deng Mingjue did not mention his life experience, Zhang Huangyan had heard a lot of rumors. The reason why Wen Anzhi trusted this young man so much was Zhang Huangyan. What he didn't know now is just the descendant of which king he was - Zhang Huangyan believed that Wen Anzhi must know.
In Zhang Huangyan's view, the previous method should be used to deal with the generals of Kuidong, so that they would not be subordinate to each other, and the credit should be divided into small parts, so that each general could get one. Now Deng Ming is so dependent on Li Laiheng, which seems to be playing with fire in Zhang Huangyan's view. Li Laiheng is already strong and has a appeal in the camp. If Li Laiheng's strength expands too quickly and monopolizes a large number of credits and seizures, Zhang Huangyan is worried that it will lead to a new leadership core in the camp, which is not a good thing for the Ming court.
"Well," Deng Ming nodded and explained carefully: "Now the arrogant court is very arrogant. The tiger coach still obeys the temperance. If the rewards and punishments are not properly rewarded, it will make the soldiers feel disappointed."
"The Duke of Linguo is called Xiao Laohu, and he also calls himself the tiger coach. Obviously, he has not forgotten that his father is a tiger. The so-called harmless person is a tiger, and tigers hurt people's hearts! The thieves and Western thieves are capricious and unreliable. Admirals should not be careless because they now look gentle." Zhang Huangyan was very worried when he saw Deng Ming being careless about the camp. When he came to the front of the camp a few days ago, Zhang Huangyan was uneasy because of Li Laiheng's identity and was not sure about what kind of treatment he would receive after reporting his name: "The Admiral must never forget the hatred of Emperor Lie."
"What the Secretary of the House said is very true." Seeing Zhang Huangyan's anxious face, Deng Ming immediately tried to make him relieved: "General Li also told me about this. He deeply wanted to know the name of his biological parents. When he heard someone talk about it, he was ashamed. General Li also told me that no matter how great his contributions he made in the future, others would first think that after he was rebellious, his descendants would never be able to get rid of this thief's name..."
After listening for a while, Zhang Huangyan showed some sympathy on his face: "Oh, Duke Lin should have been a good family's child. Both his parents died, and he had to recognize a tiger as his adoptive father. He is also a miserable person."
After discussing Li Laiheng's life experience, Zhang Huangyan talked about Anqing's 20,000 Zhejiang soldiers and their families. Zhang Huangyan had quite an objection to Deng Ming watching Li Laiheng's strength expand; but Zhang Huangyan didn't mind giving his own troops to Deng Ming and Wen Anzhi, saying that the matter was settled, and these people should follow Deng Ming to strengthen Wen Anzhi's strength. Zhang Huangyan said: "The army is used by the court, and it is not Zhang's personal property. As long as it can benefit the country, how can there be no way to say it?"
But Zhang Huangyan emphasized again: "These people must be handed over to Yang Shuai in Chengdu, and the military power must be held in the hands of our own people."
After leaving Zhang Huangyan's camp, Deng Ming went to Li Laiheng's camp to discuss the matter of continuing to ask for food and wages from Nanjing.
After learning that Deng Ming was going to hand over the military power to Zhang Huangyan, Li Laiheng was also shocked: "The admiral led these people to live and die, and finally won three great victories in a row. Zhang Shangshu had no merits, so why should he take the people back?"
Deng Ming thought that if Li Laiheng knew that this idea was first proposed by Deng Ming, he would probably be even more angry, and maybe even the instructor would not be sent. Deng Ming had to explain: "Zhangshu has been fighting against the enemy for more than ten years. I just regret that I don't have more strength and cannot help him train the army stronger. If these men can help him and allow him to continue to defeat the Yiqi in eastern Zhejiang, how could I not be willing to give up?"
Li Laiheng still objected and found many reasons to try to persuade Deng Ming to take back his military power.
Deng Ming asked: "Does Hushang have any prejudice against Shangshu Zhang?"
"It's not that I have prejudice against Shangshu Zhang, it's that Shangshu Zhang has prejudice against me." Li Laiheng did not hide it and immediately told Deng Ming that after two days of observation, he firmly believed that Zhang Huangyan did not regard the soldiers in the camp as his own, and looked as if he was guarding against the enemy.
"There is absolutely nothing," Deng Ming flatly denied: "Shangshu Zhang respects Hushang very much."
"Is that true?" Li Laiheng said skeptically: "Why can't I feel it?"
"It's true. Just today, when I was talking to Zhang Shangshu, Zhang Shangshu also talked about the tiger coach and the tiger coach's Xianweng." Deng Ming's words were true, but then they were completely fabricated: "Zhangshu said that he had long heard that the tiger coach's Xianweng was good at governing the army, and there was no violation of wherever he passed. This time he brought the Zhejiang army out of Zhoushan and ordered the soldiers not to harass the people along the way. When he set this rule, he was thinking about King Yue and Lingzun."
"Where, where, how can my father compare with King Yue?" Li Laiheng was very modest, but his eyebrows were full of smiles.
"Shangshu Zhang also said that only when everyone is united can they expel the Tartars, so he wanted to help me convince Anqing's men to go to Huguang and Sichuan because Shangshu Zhang knew that we needed manpower in urgent need." Deng Ming continued: "Shangshu Zhang also specifically mentioned the Commander Wen, saying that he was very arrogant and could work with the generals of Kuidong. If the court had not suspected that the Zhongzhen Camp was too much over the years, the situation in Huguang and Sichuan would have been relieved. Fortunately, we still have time, and as long as we put aside our views in the future, it would not be difficult to expel the Tartars."
Li Laiheng sighed: "I heard for a long time that Zhang Shangshu is a hero. It's better to meet him than to be famous." While speaking, Li Laiheng secretly made up his mind to select another group of capable officers tomorrow to help the Zhejiang Army rectify the troops.
This was another envoy sent by Liang Huafeng. Under Lang Tingzuo's instructions, he collected a group of prisoners from the Fujian army, with about a hundred people. They were used as coolies by the Qing army, and worked under shackles or under strict surveillance every day. Lang Tingzuo has been urging Liang Huafeng to try to send the people he wanted out of the city, but Liang Huafeng, a heavyweight like Gan Hui and Yu Xin, could not easily rescue them; even the captured Fujian army officers were not easy to deal with. Forcibly brought out from the prison, not only would it attract criticism from the Qing army in the city, but Guan Xiaozhong and Jiang Guozhu were also eyeing each other; therefore Liang Huafeng picked out the Fujian army in the coolies and planned to exchange these people for some bannermen in Deng Ming's hands.
"Although they are ordinary soldiers, we should also exchange the bannermen with them. Finally, we started to return the prisoners of war. We must let Liang Huafeng explain to the other Tartars in the city so that things can continue." Deng Ming immediately made a decision, but the bannermen was the most favorable weight in his hands. The civil and military officials of the Qing Dynasty in Nanjing did not regard the Han people as humans, but the lives of the Manchu soldiers were very valuable in their eyes. The Ming army only captured about fifty prisoners in these three battles, and Deng Ming would not of course change them in one breath. In the end, he said that he could return ten people, but the Green Camp soldiers could return two hundred to show the Ming army's determination to exchange for more and less.
"This is our first exchange, we must do it beautifully." Deng Ming summoned a large number of officers and made careful arrangements.
Chapter completed!